Our Team, Our Task, and Our Very Loose Itinerary (5-21-09)

Following a very brief orientation with the other interns at eMi (3 days of wonderful outdoorsy activities and an introduction to the staff and what life will be like as an intern for the summer), I am leaving for Africa! Here’s a little bit on our team, our task and our very loose itinerary:

The team consisted of 12 members – Only 3 of whom I met briefly before our departure:

eMi Staff Co-Leaders:

Henry Watts_____(Structural Engineer/Construction Management)

Danna Judish____,(Civil Engineer and Intern Program Director).

eMi Interns:

Phil Madrid______(Civil Engineering Student-University of Florida)

Me____________ (Civil Engineering Student-University of Michigan)

The remainder of the team was composed of volunteer professionals, many of them using their vacation time, paying their own way or raising support to spend almost 2 weeks in Africa. Needless to say they are interesting and amazing people whom I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and learning a great deal from:

Volunteers:

John Agee______,.(Civil Engineer- Golden, Colorado)

Gene Cochran____,(Structural Engineer- Eugene, Oregon)

Jill Sorenson_____,(Architect- Berkley, California)

Sarah Fucinaro___,(Architect- Berkley, California)

Blake Clark ___,__"(Designer- San Francisco, California)

Aryn Bergman___,"(Mechanical Engineer- San Francisco, California)

Kevin Knox____,__(Pastor of Mosaic Church-Berkley, California)

Dave Gerber___,__(Rep of Mosaic Church-Berkley, California)

Our team was an awesome mix of people- as you can see we have 2 guys who were representing a church in Berkley, California who is partnering with Rebuild Sudan. They were there, not as a technical part of the design team, but rather to be pursuing ministry opportunities and seeing how they can further support Michael as a church. I think it is really awesome to see this group of people committed to the long term success of Rebuild Sudan, by being invested in helping to raise funds and potentially sending volunteer groups in to see this design come to fruition.

The other 10 members of the design team are each responsible for their part of the design process, corresponding to their expertise. I, however, (lacking in the design expertise department) bring more of a willing servant’s attitude to do whatever they need me to do.

We will meet with Michael and some other community leaders when we arrive in Sudan in order to gain a more complete idea of the vision he has for Rebuild Sudan. Thereafter we will begin to design the master plan and more specifically the first phase of the project in Jalle.

Here’s the vague itinerary I received:

Thursday__(5/21) ,____Fly from Denver to Boston to Frankfurt

Friday_____(5/22)____ Fly to Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Saturday__"(5/23)____ Fly to Juba, Southern Sudan

Sunday____,(5/24) ____Drive to Bor, Southern Sudan

___________________,, Vision meeting with Michael

Monday____(5/25) ___,_Visit Site in Jalle

_______________-___,,,_Programming meeting

Through _______,_____WORK ON PROJECT

Saturday __,(5/30)__,__Final Design Presentation

Sunday___, (5/31)__,__Fly to Uganda and continue on the long

___________,,,,_______ adventure home…